Buckley Town

Buckley is an old established football centre in NorthWales and this season Buckley Town will have the honour of having played the most seasons in the Alliance League, this being their 23rd season in a very competitive League .

The game was first introduced in Buckley around 1860 when there were very few organisations, and lack of funds meant that the game was played in a basic way. An early player named Sarbat recalls playing football with his friends on the common in Buckley, using coats for goal posts, because the Lord of the Manor had forbidden the use of permanent wooden posts on the land. He recalls the day when he and his friends were presented with a real, full sized, brand new football, from a vicar in the area.

With this new ball, they regarded themselves as a real team, and established themselves as a football club, playing under the name of Belmont Swifts Football Club. This formed the heart of, what would later become, Buckley Victoria Football Club, the first organised team in the town. The team had their own pitch at Mill Lane, and soon played home and away matches against teams such as Mold Athletic, Wrexham Victoria and Rhyl Athletic.

Buckley Victoria were superseded by the Buckley Engineers, who carried on the 'Vics' winning ways. The amateurs' most famous team consisted of ten colliers, and a plumber. They picked up a huge amount of silverware in their playing days, including the Welsh Amateur Cup which they won on 3 occasions. In 1887 Buckley Town football club was formed, and it wasn't long before they had their first taste of success. They went on to win the Wirral & District League in 1898, picking up the Pike Challenge Cup in the same year. Buckley Town continued to play right up to the 1920's, and in 1925 joined the Welsh League, North Division.

During the 1930's it seemed that Buckley Town Football Club and other organised football teams in Buckley fell apart and no longer continued to be successful in competitions. Then, in 1937 Buckley Town A.F.C won the North Wales Amateur Cup. In 1949 Buckley Wanderers and Buckley Rovers were the only two teams playing competitive football in Buckley. Buckley Rovers struggled in the lower division of the Welsh Leagues, while Buckley Wanderers joined the Welsh National League Division One. In their first season, Buckley Wanderers finished runners-up behind Chirk AAA, and again in the 1953-54 season finished runners-up to Overton St Mary's. Then in the 1955-56 season Buckley Wanderers scored over one hundred goals to clinch the League title.

1960-61 season saw Buckley Rovers joined Buckley Wanderers in the Welsh League Division One. With two teams firmly established in top flight Welsh football, Buckley once again was revelling in the 'Glory days'. Buckley Wanderers finished runners-up for the third time in their history, with Chirk AAA finishing just two points ahead of them. 'Rovers' struggled in their first season in top flight football, finishing ninth in the league. Then in the 63-64 season Buckley Rovers were relegated, only to come straight back up the following season.

From 1974 Buckley Rovers then became the better of the two sides, with a runners-up finish and a third place finish. The 1976-77 season saw both teams finish in the bottom half of the table. This was the end of both teams, and in 1977 an agreement was made for both teams to join and play under the name of Buckley Town Football Club, which is the club we know to this day. The club has gone from strength to strength since they moved to a new facility at the Globe which has progressively been built up.

Since the Millennium, the club has had its most successful period to date, having won the NEWFA Challenge Cup eight times, the Cymru Alliance League Cup once in 2003-04 and in the League the club finished 3rd in 2002-03, 2nd in 2003-04, finally becoming Champions in 2004-05.

Gareth Thomas managed the club for three seasons and had many successes taking the club to the racecourse for the NEWFA Challenge Cup beating Flint in exciting final. Gareth went off to pastures new and his place was taken at the beginning of the 2013/14 by Howard Tweets. Near the end of that season Howard left the club and Gareth Thomas was installed as manager again with a brief of keeping Buckley up in the Huys Gray League. With League status safely maintained, Buckley Town made massive changes in restructuring the club to financially secure its future. Gareth moved on to manage FC Nomads whilst Tom Taylor moved the other way to take over the reins at Buckley Town. A decision was taken to adopt a five year plan. This included proposals for the club to be able to break even each season and also to become the centre of community life by providing football activities and a framework for youngsters to progress to the first team.

Summer 2014 witnessed the addition of a new WGI part funded toilet block, bringing the Globe up to date for the comfort of its spectators. The players’ walk out area has new fencing which doubles up as an enclosure for a child friendly zone in front of the main Club House. On the playing side the 2014/15 season started with a completely new team which gelled together very quickly and Tom Taylor’s Buckley Town finished a creditable fourth position in the league.

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Chas Rowland

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01978855354

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The Huws Gray Alliance(sponsorship-related name for the Cymru Alliance League) is a football league and forms the second level of the Welsh football league system in north and central Wales. If the team which finishes top of the Huws Gray Alliance holds a Domestic Licence, it may apply for promotion to the Welsh Premier League and is replaced by one of the bottom two teams in the Welsh Premier League. If the Huws Gray Alliance champions do not hold a Domestic Licence, then the team which finished second, if in possession of a Domestic Licence, may be promoted instead